About Me

By day, I perform strategic marketing duties for MorphoTrak (a subsidiary of Morpho, a subsidiary of Safran). By night, I manage the Empoprises blogging empire, as well as various virtual properties in Starfleet Commander and other games. Formerly known as Ontario Emperor (Ontario California, not Ontario Canada). LCMS Lutheran. Former member of Radio Shack Battery Club. Motorola Yellow Badge recipient. Top 10% of LinkedIn users.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

In some ways it's ironic that the early 70s "outlaw" country musicians spent a lot of time covering some decidedly non-country songs, but that's exactly what Waylon Jennings was doing.

On Wednesday night I was messing around with YouTube and blip.fm, and I found two Waylon Jennings cover songs that are highly recommended.

The first one that I found was a Waylon & Willie cover of the Fleetwood Mac song "Gold Dust Woman." (My blip of the song is here.) Perhaps Waylon's version isn't as mysterious as Stevie's original, and the drums aren't featured, but the vocals - especially on the chorus - are equal to if not better than the original. (And it's rare that people can vocally measure up to the "perfect" vocal harmonies of the mid-70s Fleetwood Mac.)

But hearing that song just left me craving another, so I found Waylon's cover of the Steely Dan song "Do It Again." (Here's my blip.) Depending upon your point of view, you could argue that Waylon's vocals here far exceed the original - especially when Waylon growls "Wheels turnin' ROUND and round."

But when looking over the Covers Project page on Waylon Jennings (which doesn't discuss "Gold Dust Woman," by the way, unless it's on a separate Waylon/Willie page or something), I was surprised to learn that one of Waylon's most famous songs, "Amanda," is itself a cover of a Don Williams song. (Here's that blip.)

In some ways it's ironic that the early 70s "outlaw" country musicians spent a lot of time covering some decidedly non-country songs, but that's exactly what Waylon Jennings was doing.

On Wednesday night I was messing around with YouTube and blip.fm, and I found two Waylon Jennings cover songs that are highly recommended.

The first one that I found was a Waylon & Willie cover of the Fleetwood Mac song "Gold Dust Woman." (My blip of the song is here.) Perhaps Waylon's version isn't as mysterious as Stevie's original, and the drums aren't featured, but the vocals - especially on the chorus - are equal to if not better than the original. (And it's rare that people can vocally measure up to the "perfect" vocal harmonies of the mid-70s Fleetwood Mac.)

But hearing that song just left me craving another, so I found Waylon's cover of the Steely Dan song "Do It Again." (Here's my blip.) Depending upon your point of view, you could argue that Waylon's vocals here far exceed the original - especially when Waylon growls "Wheels turnin' ROUND and round."

But when looking over the Covers Project page on Waylon Jennings (which doesn't discuss "Gold Dust Woman," by the way, unless it's on a separate Waylon/Willie page or something), I was surprised to learn that one of Waylon's most famous songs, "Amanda," is itself a cover of a Don Williams song. (Here's that blip.)